Divya Deshmukh is here only because R. Vaishali isn’t.
Vaishali, the defending champion in the women’s blitz event, had to pull out virtually at the last minute because of ill-health, and Divya came in as her replacement for the Tata Steel Chess India tournament.
She is making the opportunity count. After shocking third seed Dronavalli Harika, and drawing with the reigning World champion Ju Wenjun of China, she defeated Georgia’s Nino Batsiashvili to move into the joint lead on the opening day.
